The killing of Michael Brown has tapped into something bigger than Michael Brown.

Brown was the unarmed 18-year-old black man who was shot to death Saturday by a policeman in Ferguson, Mo. There are conflicting accounts of the events that led to the shooting. {snip}

There is an eerie echo in it all–a sense of tragedy too often repeated. And yet the sheer morbid, wrenching rhythm of it belies a larger phenomenon, one obscured by its vastness, one that can be seen only when one steps back and looks from a distance and with data: The criminalization of black and brown bodies–particularly male ones–from the moment they are first introduced to the institutions and power structures with which they must interact.

Earlier this year, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released “the first comprehensive look at civil rights from every public school in the country in nearly 15 years.” As the report put it: “The 2011-2012 release shows that access to . . . preschool programs is not a reality for much of the country. In addition, students of color are suspended more often than white students, and black and Latino students are significantly more likely to have teachers with less experience who aren’t paid as much as their colleagues in other schools.”

Attorney General Eric Holder, remarking on the data, said: “This critical report shows that racial disparities in school discipline policies are not only well-documented among older students, but actually begin during preschool.”

But, of course, this criminalization stalks these children throughout their school careers.

{snip}

A 2010 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center found that while the average suspension rate for middle school students in 18 of the nation’s largest school districts was 11.2 percent in 2006, the rate for black male students was 28.3 percent, by far the highest of any subgroup by race, ethnicity or gender. {snip}

And these disparities can have a severe impact on a child’s likelihood of graduating. According to a report from the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University that looked at Florida students, “Being suspended even once in 9th grade is associated with a two-fold increase in the risk for dropping out.”

Black male dropout rates are more than one and a half times those of white males, and when you look at the percentage of black men who graduate on time–in four years, not including those who possibly go on to get G.E.D.s, transfer to other schools or fail grades–the numbers are truly horrific. Only about half of these black men graduate on time.

Now, the snowball is rolling. The bias of the educational system bleeds easily into the bias of the criminal justice system–from cops to courts to correctional facilities. The school-to-prison pipeline is complete.

A May report by the Brookings Institution found: “There is nearly a 70 percent chance that an African American man without a high school diploma will be imprisoned by his mid-thirties.”

This is in part because trending policing disparities are particularly troubling in places like Missouri. As the editorial board of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out this week: “Last year, for the 11th time in the 14 years that data has been collected, the disparity index that measures potential racial profiling by law enforcement in the state got worse. Black Missourians were 66 percent more likely in 2013 to be stopped by police, and blacks and Hispanics were both more likely to be searched, even though the likelihood of finding contraband was higher among whites.”

And this is the reality if the child actually survives the journey. That is if he has the internal fortitude to continue to stand with the weight on his shoulders. That is if he doesn’t find himself on the wrong end of a gun barrel. That is if his parents can imbue in him a sense of value while the world endeavors to imbue in him a sense of worthlessness.

Parents can teach children how to interact with authority and how to mitigate the threat response their very being elicits. They can wrap them in love to safeguard them against the bitterness of racial suspicion.

It can be done. It is often done. But it is heartbreaking nonetheless. What psychic damage does it do to the black mind when one must come to own and manage the fear of the black body?

Share This

We welcome comments that add information or perspective, and we encourage polite debate. If you log in with a social media account, your comment should appear immediately. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you may comment as a guest, using a name and an e-mail address of convenience. Your comment will be moderated.

http://countenance.wordpress.com/ Question Diversity

It might have been an unaccredited school district, and it might not mean much of anything these days, but Michael Brown did graduate from high school a few months ago.

As for this article, it seems like Mr. Blow is trying to prove the existence of the non-existent school-to-prison pipeline, except he really doesn’t prove it.

Jack Burton

That what his momma said on video. “Do you know how hard it was to get him to graduate?!”

Publius Pompilius Quietus

Black people are profiled by police because they are more inclined toward violence and criminal activity than any other group. This is obviously supported by every statistical measure of crime that we have, but to listen to liberals, none of this matters. To ignore that and say police just hate black people is a reversal of logic.

John Smith

Bingo.

Every imaginable excuse except the high # of blacks is given for the high US crime rate

Blacks are the way they are because of GENETICS (low IQ, higher testosterone, lower impulse control, etc)

Yea, I know I sound like Hitler, but the truth is still the TRUTH

It’s the genes, stupid!

bilderbuster

Yes you sound like Hitler and you want to put 60 billion Jews in gas chambers too!

Alucard_the_last

Sadly, you are correct. I would love it if there was some black neighborhood that was actually worth going to. But facts are facts, there isn’t a single place on earth that has actually benefited from these walking viruses.

I doubt they are profiled. I suspect that on a case by case basis, they ask for the extra scrutiny they receive with signalling behavior of some sort.

Easyrhino1

Using this logic we may assume the criminal justice system is also sexist as there’s far more men incarcerated than women.

Ethan Allen

Yep, sexist as hell, especially in forcible rape prosecutions. Every now and then you’ll see a woman charged with statutory rape, but I don’t recall ever seeing one of forcible rape. Now, since sex, like race, is a social construct and since women are no different than men except for their genitalia, it follows that women must be forcibly raping men about as often as men forcibly rape women. It further follows, that since all these women are raping all these men and we never hear about it, let alone see it prosecuted, that there must exist some vast feminist conspiracy in the criminal justice system to put men in prison for doing what women do just as often without ever being prosecuted.

Chasmania

I was raped by my ex girlfriend….and I loved it !

Jack Burton

We don’t need to hear about your stap-on fantasies.

Chasmania

Am I going to have an issue with you, and if so, why ?
Also. Learn to spell or explain what a ‘Stap-on” is you low wattage bulb.

newscomments70

women in prison actually do sexually assault other women. that is very common, but it is not often prosecuted.

Fathercoughlin

Let’s be honest..it’s also HOT AS HELL

Pro_Whitey

I think if you saw the particular participants of such assaults, you would not find it so hot.

M.

And also ageist. As most of the people incarcerated and arrested are relatively young.

Ethan Allen

Good point!!

Whitetrashgang

Oh for the love of Christ, just like on CNN yesterday black men need the talk.Could the problem be blacks and browns are more Dumb?.No, it has to be that damn pipeline, just like the Asian school to college pipeline.

Jack Burton

It’s not just that more of them are dumb. Even when social class, income and IQ are controlled for, blacks are still more violent and criminal.

Whitetrashgang

True, that was deleted.

http://www.coinsandhistory.com/ Claudius_II

That isn’t the only reason. A major factor is that blacks grow up without fathers. The Democratic Party desires single parent households as it increases dependency upon the Government and reduces the number of “disinterested logical voters” who would vote against them.

Thus many blacks grow up without fathers, who would teach even an IQ 85 person not to pick a fight with police as you’re fleeing the store you just robbed.

Whitetrashgang

70 IQ. If you have that low of a IQ and genetically tend to be violent, not really.

Dave4088

Pure left wing, pro-minority propaganda from the NYT. Law abiding blacks and browns aren’t being harassed by the police and if blacks, specifically black males and to a lesser extent mestizos, weren’t genetically programmed for mayhem and murder then perhaps they wouldn’t have so many run ins with law enforcement that sometimes leads to their injury or death.

Filly Stoss

Hey man, I’m a Jew and follower of Renaisance, not fair

http://www.antenna.com Wholly Unconvinced

And there are a few blacks to the right side of the bell curve too, what’s your point?

Filly Stoss

Generalizing’s a good indicator of a simple mind

Fathercoughlin

Find the nearest oven and get IN!

Filly Stoss

Brilliant! How long did it take you to come up with that? Typing all day in your mother’s basement, impressive, good show!

JohnEngelman

Nowhere in this column is there any acknowledgement that blacks have a rate of violent crime that is nearly eight times the white rate.As long as that remains true many whites will maintain a “Shoot first. Explain it to the judge later” attitude when confronted by blacks they do not know who are behaving in a threatening manner. .

http://www.ambrosekane.com/ bluffcreek1967

The entire Ferguson fiasco and accompanying riots is just another example of selective rage on the part of American blacks. Every weekend 40 or so blacks are shot and killed in Chicago alone (not to mention other large inner-cities), yet there is no national outrage on the part of blacks. Ho-hum, back to life as usual.

On the other hand, one black man who fights a cop and happens to get the short end of the stick, and there’s riots, looting, and the usual collection of race-baiters!

This incident demonstrates once again how everything about Americans is dysfunctional, lopsided, and contrary to wisdom and common-sense!

Why whites would want to ‘rescue,’ ‘aid,’ ‘help’ or in any way ‘assist’ these incredibly low-IQ people is beyond me!

Reverend Bacon

I think you’re right, there is much randomness to their rage. I guess that’s why they call it the ghetto LOTTERY. There are many moving parts to this stochastic process: the criminal record of the perp (probably only minor influence, since Oscar Grant collected far more than Trayvon Martin); injuries to the perp (clearly, payouts are higher if the perp dies); credibility of the media’s story (this is probably the second-biggest driving factor, because Rodney King got a $4+-million settlement even though it was highly likely that he wasn’t wronged at all); early media coverage (clearly the higher the coverage, the greater the payout; but the other factors influence this greatly, but it’s also influenced by what else the press is doing at the time, how bored everyone is, weather, etc.). All these things drive their rage, which drives the payout. Clearly, Crump hopes St.Louis burns to the ground for at least two reasons, both of which influence his take: the more riots, the more rage and guilt created; and the bigger the total bill for the damage, the less people will scream about another $10M or so (that’s my guess as to where this will land, even though I don’t smell Oscar Grant).

SoCal88

Rodney King recently got drunk, fell in a pool and drowned. He died broke.

Reverend Bacon

It was his pool. We bought it for him. I’m not sure what your point is; many lotto winners end up broke. His death didn’t cause the taxpayers to get a refund.

bilderbuster

No it didn’t but it’s nice to know that Rodney has received his final reward.

Alucard_the_last

His lawsuit should have netted him 5$. Most negroes do die broke because they spend their money on shinny objects and frivolous spending.

Expat

So………..the world is against them because they don’t like the shade of their skin?
Yeah, that must be it.

Ringo Lennon

They are so totally different from a white man that yes it’s skin color, wide nose, big lips and other negroid features that I don’t like. It should be a crime to have anything to do with them.

libertarian1234

I wanted to read what he had to say, but could only get down a few paragraphs before it was apparent this dork doesn’t operate in the real world and his rant is nothing but nonsense.

bilderbuster

If I had any doubts about where this article was going they were erased when I read the words Southern Poverty Law Center.

Luca

Let’s see, it’s the criminalization from the power structure, lack of preschool, the suspension rate, the bias of the school system, the bias of the criminal justice system, policing disparities, racial profiling, and racial suspicion.

Only eight excuses instead of the mandatory 10 for any bleeding heart propaganda piece on why we have a racial problem in America. They must have had a stiff deadline and didn’t have time to cut and paste the usual drivel about slavery, Jim Crow and discrimination.

If you can’t find the cause of the problem, you’ll never find the solution.

But then, there is no intent on finding on a solution, only an agenda of continuing to divide this country against anything European White, male, Christian or heterosexual.

Be prepared.

phorning

“The bias of the educational system bleeds easily into the bias of the
criminal justice system–from cops to courts to correctional facilities.”

The bias of the educational system? High school in the United States has been dumbed down to such a degree that anyone who shows up every day and puts in a minimum amount of effort will graduate.

R L Buds

Actually the only race based bias in the school system is for teachers to look the other way when blacks act up, until they can’t ignore it anymore. They should be suspended and incarcerated at a much higher rate than they are.

Fathercoughlin

They only disappear at night

Diana Moon Glampers

“Being suspended even once in 9th grade is associated with a two-fold increase in the risk for dropping out.”

So being a troublemaker/criminal makes success less likely? Who woulda thought?!

I was suspended three times in ninth grade. I still managed to graduate at sixteen. I would like to see the above statistic broken down by race.

journey

Another useless article on the black victim myth. Unfortunately, this Golden Age of the Negro is rapidly coming to a close as the Hispanic population ever increases in number. The Hispanics, as a distinct racial group, have their own needs and will fight for the shrinking white tax dollar, political power, and neighborhoods. The blacks will eventually be pushed to the bottom of the barrel as in Hispanic majority countries.

Bossman

In many Latin American countries with large Mestizo populations, Blacks have completely disappeared. Even Argentina which can be regarded as a white country, Blacks have completely disappeared there.

dd121

Are they gonna reappear on the dark side of the moon?

Garrett Brown

Woah, where did they go? In the underground caves? People’s basements? Mordor?

Bossman

They were screwed out of existence. They became Mestizos.

Garrett Brown

Which countries?

Bossman

Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Brazil. In these countries, Blacks are fewer in number than during the days of slavery. Blacks have higher fertility rates but they also interbreed with Mestizos, Indians and some whites in many Latin American countries.

Garrett Brown

In no country you just listed are blacks screwed out of existence. In fact, in Cuba and Colombia they are growing in number. I rest my case.

Bossman

That is because you’ve not studied Latin American history and culture.

Garrett Brown

There is no such thing as Latin Anerican culture. I have studied mestizos though.

newscomments70

Central and South America is full of illegals from Nigeria. They haven’t disappeared. Cuba, Columbia, Venezuala, and Brazil are full of blacks, double digit percentage of the population. They didn’t go anywhere.

Bossman

Cuba and Brazil are the two countries in the Americas that imported the most African slaves yet Brazil counts its black population as only 6.5% of the general population. In Cuba, Columbia and Venezuela, they are a small percentage of the population.

newscomments70

if you count mulattos as black, Brazil has about 50% black population. Columbia as about 10% black, including multattos. Mestizos are about 49% of the population, and white hispanic is only 37% of the population. In Venezuela, blacks are about 10% of the population, mestizos are 50% of the population, and white hispanic is only 20%. These places do not look like rural Ohio.

M.

How can you justify what happened with black boys being suspended more in school? It’s as if he’s trying to blame the more frequent suspensions on the suspenders and not the actual offenders.

As for racial profiling, Mr. Blow is certainly aware that some age groups are more prone to crime than others. The same goes from some genders, and yes, the same also goes for some races.

The author is trying to make it sound as if police officers arrest blacks and Latinos disproportionately more than others simply out of racism. If that were the case, then why aren’t Asians also getting profiled?

It would be ridiculous to suspect a 78-year-old Japanese woman just as much as a 20-year-old black man. Policemen are just going with the odds, which is the sensible thing to do, despite being politically incorrect and offensive to some.

Conrad

These studies make all of the wrong assumptions. Naturally they would because they are propaganda. To be accurate they would need to ask, are the blacks being expelled & jailed, innocent of the charges. The primary question must be are they guilty of the offense, not how many are punished.

If I say that I have been jailed 17 times, and that this proves that I am being picked on, I would only prove that my logic is false. Of course, it may be that I am just covering up my guilt.

Jacobite2

Blacks, as first-class citizens, are entitled to break various laws without consequence. Or, second-class citizen whites are available to receive their punishment in their place.

The data proves one thing and one thing only – anti-social behaviors by black students is far more common.

John R

“There is at least a 70% chance that a black man without a high school diploma will be imprisoned by his mid thirties.” How about this interpretation: “If a black man has not taken advantage of the taxpayer supported free education he receives and can’t even earn a diploma at one of these baby sitting schools, then you can bet he is also a dumb azz who will end up in prison where he belongs.” There, I fixed it, Mr. editor.

dd121

I guess it’s still the fault of whites that blacks are failures, in the liberal minds. What’s the solution, stop arresting and prosecuting blacks for their first four felonies? Then we can get the crime statistics to calm down.

newscomments70

They want to commit horrific crimes with impunity. If someone tries to stop them or punish them, they riot.

MekongDelta69

Oh look – another ‘race‘ article from the New York Slimes…

Ignore article…

Next…

Simonetta

In Western Civilization there is a concept called Noblesse Oblige. In a nutshell, it says that those who are in positions of permanent authority and inherited social class and privilege have an obligation to use their wealth, power, and influence towards bettering the inferior classes and peoples in a culture. To the extent of course that it doesn’t affect your own position of permanent authority and inherited social class privilege. But there is still a lot of room to move.

This concept is not as universally accepted in America as it is in Europe, but it is still acknowledged by the ruling classes to have some validity. Especially in the 21st century where society and institutions are ruled by a permanent intellectual upper class of high IQ families.

The NY Times is the premier newspaper institution of the country. But they have done nothing to extend quality journalism beyond the %5 or so of the US population that they service. They have done nothing to discharge their Noblesse Oblige.

So all their pompous editorials are just so much foul air being blown out their backside.

Usually Much Calmer

This is a great point. I am familiar with the concept, but I do not think the people who are practicing it now are the people for whom the concept was native. Being born into a good family still has many benefits but a social churning took place in the early to mid 20th century and many people who are in a position to and who do practice ‘noblesse oblige’ are neither noble nor particularly intelligent- they are careerist climbers.

In the past there were correctives such as sumptuary laws to censor those new to power from making asses of themselves before they knew how to handle their new position. In America, it is hard to see what and suitable corrective might be. I’d be interested in your thoughts.

Jacobite2

The old correctives were that the upper-class were still the same ethnic group as everybody else. The same language, history, culture, religion. They had no reason to ‘fundamentally transform’ existing society to suit their alien sensibilities.

Jacobite2

Well, we’ve seen this show before. The stats on economic dominance by a permanent intellectual upper class of “high-IQ families” was about as true in Weimar Germany as it is in the US today. There’s an old Russian joke… never mind.

Germanicus

It sounds as though, well, we just can’t get along. That is why God made geographical space: distance and borders protect diversity!

Chasmania

Protect it, or protect us FROM it ?

Chasmania

“…Brown was the unarmed 18-year-old black man who was shot to death Saturday…”
Shouldn’t that read “purportedly unarmed” ?
Why cede ground to anything ? For all we know his bros’ grabbed his weapon and or tossed it, or some helpful ‘bystander’. The investigation IS still ongoing, I hear.

Jack Burton

He was unarmed, that’s why he shoved the cop into his car and tried to take his gun, precisely because the perp was unarmed, he needed a gun.

Chasmania

..or he wanted an extra one, or he forgot his was down his pants that were hanging below his arse cheeks, or the Po Po had a better one… Any number of reasons he could have had one and it not have been used or seen.

The point I was trying to get across was that just because the news outlets are burping out some information they were spoon fed doesn’t make it gospel, or even relevant.

Ed

One way, and there are many, to detect the media bias in covering this story is how they describe Michael Brown’s educational background.

A lot of news report make the point that he was about to “go off to college”. Except he wasn’t going off anywhere. He was going to an open admission diploma mill. He graduated high school, a school rated the most violent in the area, only because he was allowed to attend an alternative school. When he walked across the the stage in June or when he took his graduation pic he had not yet earned his diploma.

Jack Burton

It’s 2014 and you still need evidence that there’s bias in the media?

PvtCharlieSlate

Mr Blow deserves his name.

Spikeygrrl

They truly do not understand that they bring it on themselves!

It’s not rocket science: act like a savage and you’ll be treated like one.

Jacobite2

Not if Hussein O’bwana and Trayvon Holder have any say in the matter. The NYT editorial is already looking toward quotas on discipline. This merely means that the tipping-point for white flight from public schools will drop from 1/3 ‘minorities’ to 1 minority. White parents will not sacrifice their children to the god of civil rights.

Spikeygrrl

Liberal White parents not only will, they’re doing so already!

They don’t see it as a sacrifice. They seriously believe that they are bequeathing to their children small-e enlightenment, social evolution, and a front-row seat on “the right side of history.” It’s really a shame that for the kids, instead of their parents’ dream of a warm and fuzzy Utopia, they will live their adult lives in the waking nightmare of Western Civilization’s irreversible collapse.

Jacobite2

Is this a local phenomenon to wherever you’re reporting from? Here in the Kansas City Metro area, whites, Left, Right, and center, live in the ‘burbs and their kids go to nice suburban public schools, unless they’re going to nice suburban private schools. I lived in the DC area for 25 years, and Jimmie Carter was the last liberal I heard of sending his kid to DC public schools (Amy had a Secret Service bodyguard). Maybe NYC, Chi, or LA? I’m impressed that any white would doom his kids to non-education, plus physical danger. There won’t be any affirmative action for them when they want to go to college — they’ll just be more ignorant crackers.

Melvin Bonzarelli

Over 170 years ago Liberia was founded to be the home in Africa of repatriated slaves from America. It is 100% black, black government, black police etc. it is also one of the poorest, dysfunctional and most violent countries in black Africa
The chaos, violence and disconnect from civilization is in their genes.

John Ambrose

But but but…
139 geneticists just signed a manifesto in response to Nicolas Wade’s new book saying that we simply have no evidence that differences in behavior among races are based on genetic differences.

Raymond Kevon Morgan

I just seen on CNN the new Officer in charge of the Ferguson protest Ron Johnson hold up an enlarged picture of Michael Brown and said this is why we are here.If the governor of Missouri will appoint an Michael Brown fan to lead in Ferguson and then how could we trust the investigation of the officer will be fair?

Jacobite2

The writers at the NYT are you-know-whos, and you know damn well that they know the test of bias in stopping would be the percentage of the group stopped compared to the percentage of arrests made for whites and blacks. If 20% of whites stopped are arrested and 20% of blacks stopped are arrested, then the policy is neutral. Of course, besides being very intelligent, you-know-whos lie a lot.

ncpride

Good heavens, the comments on the original article are some of the most pathetic, ridiculous nonsense I’ve read in a while. Clearly, none of those White fools have ever actually had much contact with the poor souls they so pity, defend and make excuses for. I have to remind myself that while I truly believe Whites are slowly awakening, there will be some who will never see the light.

http://tmasierrahills.blogspot.com/ tma_sierrahills

Yes, the educational system is so biased that if you are black, don’t get into a lot of trouble, buckle down and study and became a good solid C+ student, you will be in the grammar school-to-Harvard pipeline. Meanwhile, White kids who perform on the same level had better take a lot of auto shop.

JackKrak

He was unarmed, you know. Just walking along unarmed an in unarmed sort of way while being unarmed. Notice I said UNarmed…. Did anyone think I said armed? Because I didn’t. Did I mention he was unarmed?

Ed

Employers are generally hip to the GED scam many don’t view it favorably. Statistically speaking GED earners perform the same economically as HS dropouts.

Ringo Lennon

Michael Brown and Black Men

Stay away from them would be good advice.

gah

Anyone who has ever visited a school with black “students” know that they are the most disruptive ones in any school. They cause a vastly disproportionate amount of trouble, ranging from thefts, to fights, to assaults, including rapes. Truth be known, if blacks were expelled or disciplined at the same rate that they cause trouble, their suspension or expulsion rate would be at least twice as high. Most, if not all schools, deliberately DON’T punish blacks for causing trouble, giving them chance after chance to correct their behavior before any action is taken against them. In other words, blacks, starting in pre-school, are pampered and babied, and the same thing happens when they are adult troublemakers, and criminals. How many blacks do we see with dozens, and even hundreds of arrests, going on to finally murder people?

Tarczan

The news footage always shows the white protestors who are supporting the darkies. I wonder how many there really are, if we believe the media they are quite prevalent.
Now that Sir Skittles II is shown to be a common thief, I wonder how supportive they will be.
It cracks me up, they must put a compassionate black man in charge to render justice.

Almost all of the whites in the crowd are local anarchists, left wing ideologues, and some of them have come from Chicago.

Harold Howe

The comments here substantiate Blow’s assessment.

The racist stereotyping in the comments here is morbidly flagrant.

It is if the people here don’t personally know and have never met a person of color or even heard of someone like Jackie Robinson or Barack Obama or even accomplished conservative icons like Clarence Thomas, Ben Carson and Herman Cain.

Bossman

I didn’t know that. It sure would be a way to diminish the black population.

newscomments70

I’ve been to South America. What I describe is true. And about half of Brazilians are mixed race (light skinnned blacks). Look at photos of Rio online. That’s mostly what you see.

Fathercoughlin

LOL!#

Bill Milner

While Brown had to go to summer school to graduate, he did. Many don’t. That’s a plus for Mike but the video of him in the store stealing and of him strong arming the clerk, tells me this is not a good guy. What else is he capable of?